


Warm Death

by teamchaosprez



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Zombies, Depression, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary K1-B0 (Dangan Ronpa), OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Temporary Character Death, Trans Female Character, Trans Harukawa Maki, Trans Male Character, Trans Oma Kokichi, Trans Saihara Shuichi, Trans Tojo Kirumi, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies, Zombies with a twist, i tagged major character death just in case but like, im so fucking sorry it's halloween and im sick, theyre zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-11 12:42:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16475780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teamchaosprez/pseuds/teamchaosprez
Summary: After his uncle was killed in a zombie attack, Shuichi Saihra hid in a kitchen closet for four days. Luckily, four people on a supplies raid find him and don't let him waste away.... Not yet, anyway.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> beta read by my best friend, pianogf on ao3 and tumblr! i wuv her  
> i was gonna update everything i had going before posting this but i reeeeally really wanted to get the ball rolling on halloween

Shuichi Saihara huddled himself in the back of the hall closet, his heart pounding in his chest and his hand clamped over his mouth. His uncle had pushed him into the tight space, ordered him to keep quiet and hidden until the people that burst into their house had left. He figured his uncle didn’t think he knew what was going on, but he had been keeping on top of the news enough to know that something was spreading that made the dead come alive. Those that were lucky - or unlucky - enough to not be devoured completely by the zombies became one of them mere hours after the first bite.

He knew that his uncle was a reasonable person, almost to a fault. He figured that he just didn’t believe in the dead getting up; maybe it was a medical phenomenon, the so called “zombies” really being people who went into a sort of coma after a near death experience. Shuichi could tell from looking around through some files left on the kitchen table some mornings that his uncle was trying to find medical records, anything about what he believed to be a particularly horrific plague, and he had begun to follow that line of thought and reasoning as well.

At least, until the plague hit their town. Until the zombies broke into their home.

The detective in training couldn’t stop shaking as he listened to the groaning and crashing outside the closet, the screams of his uncle. Shuichi kept one hand over his mouth, though it wasn’t as though he could make any noise at the moment anyway. Tears streamed down his face, and he couldn’t move. Couldn’t do anything. He wished he could do something, anything to help - he wished he could just open the door and start fighting, but he knew that he was thin and weak and couldn’t do much of anything even if the symptoms of zombification didn’t include superhuman strength and insatiable hunger.

It didn’t take long for the house to go quiet. A few hours at most. By that time, though, Shuichi had slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor in a sitting position, shaking and crying as he listened to the group of zombies shuffling and moaning out of the house the way they came. He couldn’t move; he didn’t want to see what was outside, he didn’t want to see if there was anything at all left of his uncle, he didn’t want to know for sure the fate that his only close family had suffered.

He didn’t know how much time had passed while he was busy curled up in the closet, but he knew that at least a few days had passed. Not even the intense thirst and hunger he felt could get him to leave his tiny hiding place. He felt like his feet and legs had turned into lead, like he couldn’t get up and move even if he tried to. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to make any moves to survive. Maybe he just wanted to stay here, die of dehydration, there couldn’t be much more time until he succumbed…

He was broken out of her thoughts by the sound of people talking and laughing as they entered his house. His hand instinctively clamped over his mouth, and he tried to press himself a little bit closer to the wall of the closet, tried to make himself a little smaller. He wanted to die, but he didn’t want to die to a zombie attack. He didn’t want to become one of them, and he didn’t want to be eaten by them. It didn’t even cross his sleep deprived and starving mind that zombies couldn’t talk.

He listened to the people move around the kitchen just on the other side of the closet door, discussing what food was still there as they took as much of it as they could carry. For a moment, he thought that they would just leave without ever figuring out that he was there, but he noticed the handle to the door shuffling and clicking before light flooded into the closet. Shuichi flinched, put his hands in front of himself protectively and squeezed his eyes shut - he had been in complete darkness for days. When he finally blinked his eyes open, he glanced up and saw a girl with violet eyes and blonde hair before him.

“Guys, there’s a boy in the closet,” the girl announced over her shoulder, before kneeling down before Shuichi and studying him carefully. Examining him to make sure that he was still alive and not one of the zombies that had all but taken over the world, he assumed. “He’s alive, too.” She addressed him then, a gentle smile crossing over her features as she put a hand gently on his wrist. “What’s your name? I’m Kaede Akamatsu. Don’t worry, we’ll take you to safety.”

Shuichi opened his mouth to try and respond, but it had been so long since he drank anything and his throat was so dry that nothing but a choked sound could escape him. The girl blinked, and shifted to pull a water bottle out of the backpack she was wearing and offered it to Shuichi. When he couldn’t move his arms well enough to drink it, she reached one arm to pull him forward to tilt the bottle to his lips. The detective in training became very, very aware of how much spending a few days locked in a closet had weakened him. “That any better?” she asked, after he had gulped down half the bottle.

He still wanted more, but he nodded in response anyway. He at least felt like he wasn’t about to die now. After giving himself a moment to examine the girl, he finally responded to her original question - “My name is Shuichi Saihara.” His voice cracked, came out scratchy and weak, but at least it worked. Immediately after he finished talking, three other people appeared behind Kaede - three people who he assumed were the other people that had been taking food from the kitchen with her.

“Okay, Shuichi!” Kaede seemed to brighten up considerably once he actually spoke, bouncing on her heels a little as she turned to her friends, looking over at the three of them. “These are my friends, Kaito, Maki, and Kiibo. We’re going to make sure you get somewhere safe. Can you walk?” She was sure getting ahead of herself, not even bothering to ask if he wanted to be brought out of the house. Not that he could really blame her - he assumed that everyone was trying to survive right now. He wondered if anyone else had been suicidal enough to just sit in a closet and wait for starvation to take them…

Shuichi shook his head, both answering her question and trying to tell her that, no, he was fine just staying here by himself. If he was going to die, he would rather do it on his own terms than because of some disease that turned people into cannibalistic monsters. “Okay!” Kaede clapped her hands together, clearly just assuming that Shuichi was only answering her question. The detective in training couldn’t help but wonder how someone could be so cheerful during the literal apocalypse, but he didn’t really question her positive attitude as she turned to the tallest person with her, a muscular boy with hair spiked at an almost impossible angle and a NASA t-shirt. “Kaito, can you carry him?”

“Sure thing!” the boy - Kaito - replied, and shrugged the pack he was wearing off, passing it to the girl next to him - Maki, he assumed - who had long pigtails and an expression that implied that she wanted to murder the first person to approach her without permission. Kaito approached Shuichi immediately, leaned down and lifted the smaller boy into his arms bridal style.

The detective in training barely found the voice to protest, pressing his arms against Kaito’s shoulders and trying (and failing) to push him off. He hadn’t really had the chance to realize how frail he had become, and briefly Shuichi wondered what he looked like. Pale and thin and pathetic, he figured. “Stop, I don’t want to go anywhere,” he protested, trying to wiggle his way out of the taller boy’s grip but finding it impossible. “Just leave me here. I don’t… I don’t want to survive.”

“What do you mean, you don’t want to survive?” Kaito almost seemed offended by his words, brows furrowing over violet eyes and a frown poking at the corners of his lips. The taller boy didn’t put him down, but within a few moments Maki had moved forward to put a hand on his shoulder.

“We shouldn’t take someone with us that doesn’t have a will to live,” the girl spoke in a dry and somewhat uncaring voice, looking at Shuichi with an expression he could swear contained a little bit of disgust. He couldn’t help but shrink in on himself self consciously. “He’ll just slow us down and make it hard for the rest of us to get by. He’s too weak to be of much use to us anyway.”

“Maki!” Kaede’s voice was scolding as she folded her arms over her chest. “We’re not just going to let him die. We’re not monsters.” She then turned to Shuichi, the expression in her eyes softening considerably. “Okay, I’m going to assume you lived here with someone and the zombies got to them, right?” The detective in training hesitated, then nodded, and Kaede didn’t hesitate before she continued speaking. “Alright. Here’s a question for you. Would the person that got attacked want you to just give up and die? Would they want you to throw the rest of your life away?”

Shuichi’s throat went dry, and he imagined his uncle in his mind. No. There was no way the man that had given so much to take care of him, had sacrificed his life so that he could survive a zombie attack, would want him to give up his life. “No,” the detective in training responded, his voice quiet and weak as he went still and closed his eyes. “Okay, fine. Take me.”

“That’s the spirit!” Kaede grinned, and rushed ahead of the rest of the group. This time, Shuichi didn’t protest when Kaito carried him out of the house. He glanced over the taller boy’s shoulder once as they left, and tried to keep himself from wandering down the path of self loathing and suicide idealization he had been on since the attack on his home. Speaking of which…

“Hey, what day is it?” he asked, voice still weak and dry as Kiibo put a water bottle in his hands. He unscrewed the cap and gulped down a majority of it within a few moments. He wanted to know how long he had been sitting curled up in a closet.

“It’s Halloween. October 31st.” Kiibo’s response was quick, and Shuichi couldn’t help but blink twice in surprise. Four days. He had been sitting in the closet for four days. It was a wonder he was still alive at all after going for so long without water; seven days was considered to be the longest someone could live without dying of hydration, and Shuichi hadn’t exactly been the most hydrated person in the world when he was shoved into the closet - he was already so weak and unable to talk…

Shuichi supposed he only had a few days left by the time these people found him. He wondered if he should feel grateful or frustrated by his own survival.

“Where are we going, anyway?” he asked, shifting a little to look at Kaede, who was still walking far ahead of the rest of them. The blonde looked over her shoulder, gave Shuichi a smile.

“We’re kind of living in an old building with a big group of other people. It’s not ideal, but we’re safe there, at least. We were just on a supplies raid when we found your place.”

Somewhere safe, surrounded by other people trying to survive...

Maybe it was just that he spent four days locked in a closet, isolated and scared out of mind, but Shuichi was a little excited for that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuichi is brought to the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> blows a kiss at one of those ropes in a school gym. for kirumi

When Kaede said that she and the rest of her group were living in an abandoned building, Shuichi didn’t expect to be carried to the massive and elusive Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles. The school towered over the rest of the city, had been the school for talented youth and a rival to Hope’s Peak Academy up until the creation of the Reserve Course made the other school more popular and more heavily funded. It had been fifty years since anyone stepped foot in the Ultimate Academy, and it was heavily guarded by some of its alumni and their families, so Shuichi was a little surprised that a group of teenagers running from the zombie apocalypse had managed to get in at all.

Though, when he thought about it, maybe he shouldn’t have been terribly surprised. It didn’t matter how attached someone was to a building - their survival was more important than standing around outside making sure nobody got inside. If anyone from those families had survived - it suddenly hit Shuichi that he had been locked in a closet long enough that he had no idea what the death rate was like for this particular town. Up until the day his uncle died, the “zombie apocalypse” had been something happening to other people in other cities - the epidemic hadn’t hit here yet, and there was hope that by preventing travel and trying to keep everyone nearby it never would. He did know, however, that by that fateful morning, up to seventy percent of the population of every city that got hit was wiped out.

He felt a little sick, thinking about how so many of the people he knew and grew up with might be dead by now. He decided not to think on it, decided not to consider the worst. He was being brought to safety; he needed to think about the best case scenarios now. He needed to think about surviving and how much things would improve from now on.

As they approached the school, the massive front doors swung open and an unhealthy looking boy that couldn’t be much taller than five foot one ran out. He attached himself to Kiibo the moment he reached the group, forcing a startled noise from the robot as the two of them nearly fell to the ground. “Aww, I was hoping you guys had been eaten alive when you didn’t come back when you said you would,” the boy whined, but backtracked within a few moments. “That’s a lie, though! I was suuuuper worried about all of you.” He unattached himself from Kiibo, and seemed to finally notice Shuichi, the expression on his face changing from one of mischief to one of analysis so briefly that if the detective had blinked he was sure he would’ve missed it. “Oh? Fresh meat?”

“This is Shuichi Saihara!” Kaede chirped, ruffling the short boy’s hair and almost too excited. “We found him in one of the houses we did a supplies raid in. He needed help, so we decided to bring him here.” How was she so perky and bubbly? Shuichi wondered if there were other emotions hiding just under her happy surface, but he wasn’t about to be rude and ask something like that.

Kokichi’s expression went serious again, but not to the point it had been previously. The small boy approached him, stood up on the tips of his toes to get more on Kaito’s level and have a better look at the detective. “Maaan, you sure do need help, huh?” he asked, voice holding a teasing lilt as he addressed Shuichi. “You look like you haven’t eaten in a week. Are you just coming into our base to mooch off of our food, kill us, and run? Is that what your schtick is, Mr. Shuichi Saihara?”

“Wh-- no!” The accusation made him tense slightly, immediately worried that this boy would try to hurt him based on such accusations and--

“Please. If anybody is mooching off our food, it’s you,” Maki interjected on his behalf within a few moments, a heavy sigh leaving her as she stepped forward and grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt, pulling him along as she walked towards the school. “This is my brother, Kokichi. Just ignore anything he says to you. He’s a little bitch.”

“I sure am!” Kokichi chirped happily, and twisted to face towards the school and actually walk with his sister as opposed to getting dragged along. Shuichi watched the pair of siblings walk inside, Kokichi rambling happily to Maki. He wondered if everyone he would meet in this school was as unique and full of energy as the people he’d met so far. Well, he didn’t really know if he could describe Maki as full of energy, but she was interesting enough.

“Kokichi is a pathological liar that likes jokes. Kind of annoying, but he’s smart and means well most of the time.” Kaito explained as he started walking towards the school as well, still carrying Shuichi in his arms and with Kaede rushing ahead. Kiibo trailed behind, and Shuichi did what he could to memorize the outside of the school before he was carried in.

The Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles had held up remarkably well since the school was shut down, most of the walls still intact and the windows ensnared with vines and wires, making the interior dimly lit and a little spooky. Plants sprouted from the stones that made up the building, and Shuichi was impressed by the detailed architecture of the school, the way the first floor at least was being taken over by nature despite attempts to keep the Ultimate Academy from decaying or being vandalized for the most part. He almost didn’t want to move any further through the first floor of the school, wanting to take in as much as he possibly could, but he figured that he would have plenty of time to explore as he settled in. He doubted he would be sent on any supply raids until he had at least gotten some strength back - nobody wanted to drag along a skinny boy who collapsed every three steps.

A few steps ahead of them, Kaede opened a door labelled CAFETERIA to allow Kaito to carry Shuichi inside. He was placed on one of the chairs around the table, and Kaito settled in the chair next to him; Kaede seemed to be bouncing on her heels as she leaned on the table. “Okay, I’m gonna go get Kirumi and let her know you’re here. She’s the best cook I’ve ever met, and she’s really good at taking care of people. She’ll make sure you’re back to full strength in no time!”

The girl rushed off, and Shuichi leaned back in the chair. He let out a sigh, and finally began to realize how hungry he was as his stomach growled. “So how long were you in that closet for, exactly? And how come you never thought to come out? Even if you were suicidal, I don’t think dehydration is the best way to go about doing it.” He didn’t think this boy even realized how awkward and insensitive the question he just posed was, but Shuichi didn’t want to call him out on it. He wasn’t in the mood to describe depression and trauma at the moment, not when he had been busy starving to death for so long.

“I was in there for four days, and I didn’t want to come out because I didn’t want to see what was outside.” He hesitated, leaned forward so that a majority of his little weight was on the table. “My uncle and I were having breakfast together when zombies broke into our house. He shoved me into the closet and told me to stay hidden until they left, and I… I heard them kill him.” He swallowed thickly, closed his eyes and tried not to relive what he had been through.

“Ah, shit, I’m sorry, dude.” One stable hand rested against Shuichi’s upper back, and the detective took a moment of just being quiet to attempt to relax. “Well, you’re safe now. We’ve been making sure that the zombies can’t get into the school, and we go on supply raids twice a week so there’s always enough food to feed all of us. You’re the sixteenth person that’s hidden out here now, and we’ll probably put you into the rotations for going on supply raids once you’ve gotten some more strength back. The only two we never let out are Kokichi and Kirumi, because Kokichi is like… always sick and Kirumi is the one with the most knowledge about cooking and stuff.”

“Makes sense.” Shuichi pulled his legs up so that he was sitting cross legged on the chair, and turned his head toward Kaito. “How long have you guys been hiding out in here? I don’t think the zombies could’ve been in this town much earlier than when my uncle died. Most other cities have had that on the news since the first sign of the outbreak so people can be safe, right?”

“About two weeks. Some people here knew each other beforehand, like Kokichi, Maki, Kaede, and Kiibo, or Kirumi and her brother Rantaro. Others, like me, just kinda ran here and ran into the others here. We’ve developed kind of a routine.” Kaito shrugged. “The epidemic showed up in this town a few weeks ago, but the people in charge have kinda been trying to keep it on the down low to avoid mass panic or something like that. Joke’s on them, though, by the time they decided to tell people to evacuate a quarter of the population around here was already taken out.”

“Wow,” Shuichi breathed out, slumping a little and letting out a sigh. Sadness hit him for a moment, and he wondered why on Earth anyone thought it was a good idea to keep something like this hidden from the general population. How many lives could’ve been saved if everyone knew to stay safe? Could his uncle still be alive if they knew what was going on ten days ago, when people started hiding out in the Ultimate Academy? Frustration began building up in his chest, frustration and grief and a whole cocktail of other emotions he hadn’t been able to face properly despite being isolated in a closet.

His thoughts were interrupted, though, when he heard the door to the cafeteria open, and turned his head to find a tall young woman with short faded green hair dressed almost too well for the apocalypse going on around them. She addressed Shuichi very briefly, just barely enough time for him to spot bright green eyes. “Kirumi Tojo, lovely to meet you,” she introduced herself as she rushed into the kitchen beside them, and Shuichi could hear her moving around within moments.

“She tends to get right to it when she needs to do something,” Kaito explained quietly, and it only took a few moments for Kirumi to hurry back out of the kitchen with bread in one hand and a bowl of steaming broth in the other.

“Since it’s been so long since you last ate, it will just upset your stomach to put anything rich in it. We can probably get you back to eating richer foods in a couple of days, but for now it’s just bread and broth.” A gentle and apologetic smile appeared on Kirumi’s face, and Shuichi was honestly too grateful and hungry to even consider being upset. “Careful not to eat it too fast.”

“Thank you,” the detective spoke with a bright smile, suddenly feeling more relaxed than he had been in days. He didn’t hesitate at all, barely managing to control himself as he munched bread and spooned broth into his mouth. Not eating in four days made him pretty damn hungry, it turned out.

“I’ll make sure to get a room all set up for you now,” Kirumi gently put a hand on Shuichi’s shoulder then, before rising to her feet and rushing out of the cafeteria.

Shuichi shouted a ‘thank you’ after her, a smile crossing his face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group heads to Hope's Peak Academy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's 1am!

It took two weeks for Shuichi to gather up enough strength to go on an actual supply run, and in those two weeks, he had been able to adjust to life in the post apocalyptic world. He developed a close friendship with Kaede, Maki, and Kaito, got to know everyone else living in the Ultimate Academy and tried to help out wherever he could. He helped Kirumi out in the kitchen, dealt with Kokichi’s hijinks as he made attempts to help with both his physical and mental health, and sat still while Miu tested her many inventions - with varying levels of success - on him. 

It was Kaede that approached him with an excited grin and a map of the city in hand. “So, Mr. Detective, I have a mission for you!” she chirped, and handed it over to him - Shuichi glanced down and saw various red lines and scribbled notes. “You’re going on a supply raid with Kaito, Maki, Tenko, Gonta, and I. We have a bigger number of people going together this time around because we’re going further than usual!” She tapped on the biggest circled building, and Shuchi recognized it immediately - Hope’s Peak Academy. “We’re going to Hope’s Peak to see if we can find any other survivors there. The students were evacuated a while ago, but I’m sure there were a few that wanted to stay behind. And even if not, at least there’s probably a lot of food and stuff still there.”

The detective in training nodded slowly, folded up the map and got to his feet. He knew his way there - he had visited the school a few months previously after solving a murder case and having the scout take note of his talent. It was a likely place for survivors to run to even if the students were long gone, too - a big building with lots of room for a society to grow and plenty of supplies.

There was one thing he was worried about, though - what if the people in Hope’s Peak assumed the worst about their little group and ended up reacting violently to visitors? If there was one thing Shuichi knew about the group at the Ultimate Academy, it was that they were tight knit and cared deeply for each other despite not knowing each other for very long. Not only that, but with only sixteen people, any one person’s disappearance would be noticed, felt, and make life just that much harder. Only a few people were sent out on every supply raid for good reason, and having this many individuals take a trip out to a risky area was enough to make Shuichi nervous.

The last thing he wanted to do, though, was have his new friends decide that he wouldn’t be a good asset to the group because he didn’t want to take any risks. So the detective nodded, folding up the map and handing it back to Kaede. “Sounds good to me,” he responded, even though it didn’t sound good to him at all, and leaned against the back of his chair. “When are we going out?”

“First thing tomorrow morning!” the pianist chirped, bouncing on her heels a little and grinning at Shuichi with absolutely no worry showing on her face. He had learned over the last couple of weeks, though, that Kaede was smarter and more cunning than she let on. There were probably a million emotions hiding behind purple eyes, much deeper than the cheeriness she let on. He wished that she trusted him enough to tell him what she was thinking, but he wasn’t going to push her for answers - no matter how close they’d gotten over the last two weeks, he was still the newest member of the group, and that probably made him a little bit harder to trust than the others. “We’ll probably leave at sunrise. Make sure you get plenty of sleep. Supply raids can get a little dangerous.”

“Will we have anything to protect ourselves?” He remembered when he was picked up from his uncle’s home, how Kiibo, Kaito, Kaede, and Maki weren’t armed.visibly. He didn’t think that pacifism would get them through much of anything - zombies didn’t listen to reason most of the time. Not that he even knew how to use much of anything more than a knife, but…

“Maki brings a handgun and some knives every time she goes along with supply raids, and she’s taught a lot of us how to use them so that every group has at least one person that can kick some zombie butt if it comes down to it.” Kaede began backing away from him as soon as she finished talking, bouncing on her heels a little with every step. “I’m gonna go let the others know, okay? Come find me or Kirumi if you need anything else!” She turned on her heel, and ran out, leaving Shuichi alone again.

His first supply raid, and if Kaede’s words were anything to go by, it would be an important one. Anxiety began to blossom in Shuichi’s chest, but he did his best to ignore it.

Everything would be just fine, he was sure of it.

* * *

 

It took nearly two hours to walk from the Ultimate Academy to Hope’s Peak, and while on that journey Shuichi came to know just how out of shape he was. All the healthy food from Kirumi and exercise sessions with Kaito barely gave him enough strength to get to the other school without needing to break every so often. By the time the school was within view, Shuichi was getting ready to just tell Kaede that he was exhausted and needed a break, but thank whatever was still left watching over him after deciding to kill so many people that nobody could keep track anymore.

The school gave off an eerie vibe, probably because it had been bustling with activity until very recently. It was obvious rather quickly after entering the school grounds, though, that Hope’s Peak was far from abandoned. Laundry lay out to dry in the front of the school, and a light was visible on the second floor of the school - Shuichi wondered how long the electricity in the city would last with nobody to work it. Or if there was some good Samaritan out there trying to keep the world powered.

Kaede perked up the moment she noticed the same thing Shuichi did, and sprinted to the front door of the school. “Kaede, wait!” Maki barked after her, and followed just after with Tenko right at her heels - if the detective hadn’t been so exhausted from the walk to Hope’s Peak, he probably would have done the same, but as it was he walked behind with Kaito and Gonta.

The pianist knocked excitedly at the front door, very clearly bouncing as the rest of her group caught up to her and she knocked again. “Maybe they don’t want to let any outsiders inside,” Shuichi spoke up, trying to get a better look at the window where light was pouring out. “I mean, you never know when someone knocking at your door is ready to kill everybody for their supplies, or when a zombie has actually gotten enough of a brain to knock on a door…”

He was cut off, though, when the door opened and a girl with lavender hair and a stoic expression appeared from inside. She looked the group of teenagers over with cold and analytical eyes, and she stepped into the outdoors, though she was still within range to step back into the school and slam the door shut. “Who are you and what is your business here?” she asked, curt and to the point, and Shuichi cold feel his entire body tense up. This girl seemed familiar, but she looked like someone who would want to keep to the shadows. He wracked his brain for somewhere he could have seen her before.

After thinking on it while Kaede explained where they had come from and why they wanted to find survivors - “to make some friends, hopefully have some allies” - it finally hit him. This girl was Kyoko Kirigiri, the daughter of Hope’s Peak headmaster Jin Kirigiri and the current Ultimate Detective. When Shuichi met with the scout and headmaster of the school when they considered taking him on, he met Kyoko and they talked about the possibility of having two Ultimate Detectives. 

About halfway through Kaede’s rambling, Kyoko put one hand up to quiet her and stepped into the school. “Come in,” the detective spoke flatly, gesturing for the group to follow her as she began to walk into the school - the six of them trailed behind her and let the door to the school close behind them, loudly. “Right now, most of classes 77 and 78 are still in the school. There are a few people connected to the school and our classmates. Some students from the Reserve Course, Makoto’s sister, Yashuhiro’s mother, Aoi’s younger brother, some students from the elementary…” She trailed off with a sigh. “We’ve developed quite the system around here. We all thought that we were the only people left in the city, so I’m glad to see some other people are still surviving.”

“We thought we were alone, too,” Maki responded, and Shuichi couldn’t help but notice the similarities between the two of them. Cold and relatively emotionless attitude, but enough care hidden beneath the surface that they wanted to help their respective groups of survivors. He wondered if they would get along - he made a mental note to keep track of their interactions. “We were hoping to form an alliance with you guys. Cooperate, share resources and people. There are only sixteen of us over at the Ultimate Academy, and considering you guys have more than twice as many, we could really use the help. Especially as the epidemic grows and more people get turned into zombies.”

Shuichi’s shoulders tensed. He never considered that there were individual people still being turned, and he never thought of the idea that zombies could hobble their way into the city from elsewhere - though, if he was being honest, how else would the disease had spread? “I have an idea,” he spoke up without thinking about it, speeding up his stride a bit to catch up with Kyoko and Kaede. “Both of us are detectives, right? Do you think we could work together to research the zombies and figure out the cause? Maybe we could even discover a cure if we work hard enough at it.” 

He and Kyoko were considered the most talented detectives in the country, after all - at least among those in their teenage years. Kyoko was raised in a family that had been detectives for generations, and Shuichi had solved a difficult case the first time he came across a homicide. He had faith that, even if they weren’t doctors, the two of them could figure something out.

Violet eyes glanced over at him, Kyoko’s brows furrowing thoughtfully. “That’s a good idea,” she responded, before turning her face back away from him and making a turn down a hallway. The detective led the group down towards a door labelled GYM, opened the door quickly and held it open as six teenagers filed into the room. “I’ll go get a few other people and we’ll talk to you together. For now, make yourselves at home in here.” A small pause - “And Shuichi, I’ll talk to you more about your proposal later. It would probably be best to have that discussion between just the two of us.”

The younger of the two detectives nodded in reply, and Kyoko let the door close behind her as she left the gymnasium. As soon as the door shut, Shuichi was surprised by Kaede bouncing over and throwing her arms around him cheerfully. “That went so well!” she chirped happily, purple eyes shining as she pulled away and grabbed each of Shuichi’s hands. “It’s going to be so nice having a little bit more security in the city. I don’t know what I would’ve done if we found the place empty.”

“They technically haven’t even told us that they’ll be our allies yet-” Shuichi began to speak, but was cut off rather quickly by Tenko glaring daggers at him from over Kaede’s shoulder.

Maybe he should think positively for now.

**Author's Note:**

> please comment and kudos if you enjoyed! <3


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